Riley Gets Stung
Riley Gets Stung is the 6th season 3 episode of Kids Incorporated and 58th episode overall. In this episode, the kids help Riley after he gets taken advantage of by a con artist (guest star Rip Taylor) Plot Summary Following opening number "Who's Zoomin' Who"; the kids head to the counter hoping for refreshments as well as to see Riley's latest invention: a chocolate chip maker (Renee wisecracks that she hopes it works better than his electronic straw). It didn't, turning the chocolate into chocolate syrup instead. As Riley turns to work on getting Ryan's strawberry shake ready, a man named Samuel P. Nicholas enters the P*lace. Sam makes big talk of making Riley the most famous inventor since Thomas Edison (Ryan: "Yeah, but Edison's worked")...in exchange for some money from Riley, sparking red flags in Ryan's mind though before any warning could be expressed the kids have to go back on ("Singing Machine"). Ryan's suspicions are confirmed when he overhears Sam calling a guy named Louie on the phone after the first payment (describing Riley as a "live one"); but upon attempting to warn Riley that Sam's a con artist, learns Riley is planning to quit his job as the P*lace soda jerk. Sam then walks in to see Riley's latest invention: a pizza flipper. That invention doesn't work well either (the crust lands on Sam, who briefly asks "Is it still on?" in reference to his "hair"). Worst of all, Riley plans to send Sam the rest of his money as soon as he could get it out of the bank. Ryan, meanwhile, finds Gloria and sets off to tell the others ("That's What Friends Are For"), upon which Ryan gets an idea. Kid walks in demanding a milkshake when Ryan (posing as a prospective buyer named "Reginald von Ryan") enters. Sam shows the pizza flipper off to "Reginald" and promises to have it ready by 2:00 that afternoon, upon which he wakes Riley up from a nap to finish the device ("We Built This City"). Riley finishes, rushes out and signs the check...upon which Sam's true colors show, revealing that he signed the rights away. "Reginald" returns wanting to see if it works, then presents Sam with a briefcase that turns out...to be empty. Ryan (dropping the masquerade) then confronts Sam, leaving Riley feeling upset about being duped while Sam (following a brief Scooby-Doo like group about being outsmarted by kids) suddenly appears to see the error of his ways (we don't see what happens from there, instead moving to closing song "Restless"). Kid Cast *Marta "Martika" Marrero (credited as Martika) - Gloria *Ryan Lambert - Ryan *Rahsaan Patterson - The Kid *Renee Sandstrom (credited as Renee Sands) - Renee *Stacy Ferguson - Stacy Guest Star *Rip Taylor - Samuel P. Nicholas Adult Cast *Moosie Drier - Riley Dancers *Wendy Brainard *Darren Lee *Mario Lopez *Gina Marie Vinaccia *Andrea Paige Wilson Songs *"Who's Zoomin' Who" (Aretha Franklin cover; lead vocals by Kid) *"Singing Machine" (Kids Incorporated original; lead vocals by Kid and Gloria) *"That's What Friends Are For" (Rod Stewart cover {also recorded by Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder as Dionne & Friends}; lead vocals by Gloria, Kid, Renee, Ryan and Stacy) *"We Built This City" (Starship cover; lead vocals by Gloria and Ryan) *"Restless" (Starpoint cover; lead vocals by Stacy) Trivia *The failed pizza flipper gag and Sam's reaction (wondering if his "hair" is still on) is an allusion to Rip Taylor's notoriously bad toupee. *While not directly related to the song itself, the title of the 2nd song ("Singing Machine") references frequent sponsor The Singing Machine Company, a manufacturer primarily of karaoke equipment. *The clip of "That's What Friends Are For" would be reused in "Rock in the New Year"; but with cut-ins of Riley not seen in this episode. *"That's What Friends Are For" is not to be confused with the original song of the same name appearing in the previous season's "A Pain in the Neck". Category:List of Episodes of Kids Incorporated Category:List of Season 3 Episodes of Kids Incorporated Category:Episodes written by Lenny Shulman Category:Episodes directed by Gary Halvorson